Composite beam.



P. B. FROST & F. Rmss.

COMPOSITE BEAM.

APPLICATION FILED "M 25. 1915.

Patenteum 16, 191-7..

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

rmmr BLAIR raos'r, orsnnrrmnn, AND rnnnnniox mines, or mvnnroon,

' ENGLAND.

oomrosrrn BEAM.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, PHILIP BLAIR Fnos'r and FREDERICK RINGS, subjects of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, and resi'-- dents, respectively, of Sheflield, in the county of York, and Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Composite Beams, of which the following is a specification. j I

This invention relates to improvements in I the construction of beams which may be used by themselves for general structural purposes or in conjunction with the parts or materials hereinafter referred to to form an improved construction of floor, roof, bridge decking, road foundation, track, footpath, yard, area, quay and the like.

Qur invention mainly consists in a beam of peculiar shape made of reinforced concrete, terracotta or other suitable material applicable for use singly or side by side for various parts of structures such as those referred to, said beams being made'by placing the concrete or other base material in molds together with the, steel reinforcement to give itthe required shape. The dimensions and the reinforcements will vary proportion- I ately to thespans and loads to be dealt with.

The invention will be fully described with reference to the accompanying drawing in which 4 Figure 1 is a perspective view of a beam constructedin accordance with our invention, indicating its'external shape and the character of the reinforcement employed, Fig. 2 sectional elevation of a simple solid I floor construction in which the beam shown in Fig. 1 is used, Fig. 3 a similar view of a hollow floor construction and Fig. 4a sectional view indicating the application of the beam in a decking for bridges or the like and as a foundation for road and like tracks.

Referring to Fig. 1 the beam consists mainly of a compressive piece a, a web 6, and a bottom member 0, which latter serves as a cover to the tensile reinforcement and as a tension member distributing the loads. over a given area and lugs or brackets d,

providing against lateral bending, reinforced by rods in the shape of a hoop h, the lugs being required also for stability in handling the beams: f represents the tensile reinforcement, e the compressive reinforce- Specification of Letters Patent. I

Patented Jan. 16, 1917.

Application filed May 25, 1915. Serial No. 30,280.

means of clips 1 of any suitable construction to the 'top and bottom rods. As soon as the concrete-has seasoned the beams are ready for use and can be placed in position without centering and are able to support the load at once.

Fig2 illustrates a simple floor construction the ends of the beam resting on walls, glrders, girder casings or any other suit able support. The spaces 70 may be filled with a weak concrete such as coke breeze concrete and in that case floor boards can be nailedimmediately to the concrete filling orc'ement, or wood block jointless flooring or any other floor finish can be applied at once to the floor.

It will bereadily appreciated that heretofore it was necessary to either cover a ferro concrete floor with a layer of coke breeze or wooden sleepers to receive the nails of the floor boards and the present invention by dolng away with that necessity effects a saving in cost and depth of construction. The necessity for a means of fixing over and above the floors as now used is due to the square or fiat at the top thus afiording sup- 190 ports for a fillet m which may be of wood or coke breeze concrete or other suitable material into which nails can be readily driven to fix floor boards 0. The construction is absolutely fire resisting, sound and vermin proof.

Fig. 4 illustrates the applicat on of the beam as a decking for bridges or the like and as -a foundation for roads and the like tracks. In bridge construction the beams are made and reinforced to the required depth and amount in order tojresist the given loads for given spans and placed when matured side by side asishown, the ends resting on the abutments and the road filling material is placed immediately upon and between same as shown. For purposes of "draining weep-holes can be readily arplaced on the road foundation but owing to the fact that plain concrete has little re- ,tion.

ranged at the. points of junction without detriment to the strength of theconstruc- It is a well known fact that owing to depressions, ruts and otherdeformations under roadways the surface finish of the latter is likely tosink or crack. To obviate this a layer of concrete has been heretofore sistance against tensile stresses this method proved unsatisfactory and steel rods were inserted so as to make the slab act as a beam over depressions. There are several objections to this method. Firstly, there can be no elasticity in such a slab and the impact of the traflic is not graduated unless a fairly thick layer of soineelastic substance such as gravel is placed on the top of the concrete bed. Secondly, it is costly to arrange a solid road slab in such a fashion as to make accessto pipes and sewers, &c., feasible. Thirdly,

if reconstruction becomes necessary the Whole of the bed has to be broken up and all the material and-labor is wasted. To obviate these shortcomings beams of plain or reinforced concrete of square or'rectangular section have'beenlaidside by side but these beams still require a thick layer of filling for-reasons stated above, and moreover are costly in material unless made hollow and in the latter'case the cost of manufacture is high owing to the necessity of using a collapsible core-in the casting. The present inchanically. The. cost of production is reduced as the beams can be made between shuttering without any core. The cross beams, walls or other supports aforesaid can be arranged so that proper trimmers are provided wherever access to drains, cables, watermain's or other pipes is required and as the beams are not substantially connected with one another it is easy to lift out any required number'and replace them after repairs are done or an other purpose fulfilled.

In altering roa s or reconstruction of same the beams are simply lifted out and stacked near the site and Jean be used over again entirely. There is consequently no loss of material, and the cost of laborin forming the new road fundation is considerably reduced rfl" 4 I other similar applications could be en rated but it is thought that the foregoingl'i desoription fully bears out the application of'the. invention.

What We claim'as our invention and de sire to secure by Letters 'Patentiss- A composite beam comprising a main portion of concrete material having a Web, top and bottom members, .and lugs which project laterally from thesaid parts, reinforcing rods extending longitudinally in the said top and bottom members," loops formed of rods and secured at intervals to the, said longitudinal rods and holding-them suitably spaced apartand extendingiwithin the-said lugs, and wires arranged diagonally and crosswise of each other and secured to certain of the rods in thetop and bottom members and extending longitudinally in the said web. I a

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands.

PHILIP BLAIR. FROST; FREDERICK RINGS. 

